WO2021060785A1

WO2021060785A1 - Water purifier

Info

Publication number: WO2021060785A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/012712
Authority: WO
Inventors: 문형민; 김철호; 홍영훈; 박시준; 신현수
Original assignee: 코웨이 주식회사
Priority date: 2019-09-23
Filing date: 2020-09-21
Publication date: 2021-04-01
Also published as: US20220332605A1; CN114450079A; EP4036065A4; KR20210034919A; EP4036065A1

Abstract

A water purifier capable of stably discharging residual water from an extraction unit is disclosed. The water purifier (100) comprises: a filter unit (110) having a reverse osmosis membrane filter (113) for filtering incoming water; an extraction unit (160) for providing purified water filtered by the filter unit (110) to a user; and a residual water drainage unit (150) configured to drain, through the reverse osmosis membrane filter (113), residual water remaining in the extraction unit (160), by using an osmotic phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter (113) after completion of the extraction through the extraction unit (160).

Description

water purifier

The present invention relates to a water purifier including a reverse osmosis membrane filter, and more particularly, to a reverse osmosis water purifier capable of discharging residual water remaining in an extraction unit.

A water purifier is a device that filters water introduced through one or more filters and then discharges it to the outside to supply drinking water to a user.

Such a water purifier provides purified water to a user through an extraction unit made of a coke or a faucet.

However, in a conventional water purifier, after the extraction of purified water is completed, residual water is generated in the extraction unit when the extraction valve provided in the extraction unit including a cock, a faucet, or the like is closed. The residual water remaining between the extraction valve and the extraction unit is exposed to the external space, so it is a major contaminant such as moss, scale, and bacteria inside the extraction unit.

The contaminated residual water not only contaminates the interior of the extraction unit, but also is extracted together with the freshly supplied purified water as the extraction unit is opened, there is a problem in that purified water including the contaminated residual water is provided to the user.

In order to remove such residual water, a drain valve is installed in the drain passage communicating with the extraction part and the extraction valve, and after extraction is completed, the extraction valve and the drain valve are opened to discharge residual water from the extraction part through the drain passage. This has been proposed.

However, according to the prior art, there is a problem in that the discharge of residual water is not smooth due to the flow resistance due to the drainage passage and the non-return valve installed therein. In particular, when the length of the drain passage, that is, the length from the connecting portion of the extraction part to the final discharge port is long, the residual water is virtually not discharged.

[Prior technical literature]

[Patent Literature]

(Patent Document 1) KR2015-0104377 A

(Patent Document 2) KR2016-0142478 A

The present invention has been conceived to solve at least some of the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a water purifier capable of stably discharging residual water from an extraction unit.

In addition, as an aspect of the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide a water purifier capable of naturally discharging residual water from an extraction unit without using a separate power through a flow path change through a valve at the end of extraction.

As an aspect for achieving the above object, the present invention, a filter unit provided with a reverse osmosis membrane filter for filtering the incoming water; An extraction unit that provides the purified water filtered by the filter unit to a user; And a residual water drainage portion configured to drain residual water remaining in the extraction portion through the reverse osmosis membrane filter using the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter after the extraction through the extraction portion is terminated.

And, at the rear end of the reverse osmosis membrane filter, a purified water discharge passage through which purified water filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged, and a drain passage through which concentrated water not filtered from the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged are connected, and the residual water drainage part discharges the extraction part and purified water A residual water drainage channel connecting a channel is provided, and the residual water of the extraction unit is introduced into the reverse osmosis membrane filter through the residual water drainage channel and the purified water discharge channel by osmosis of the reverse osmosis membrane filter, and is then drained through the drain channel. Can be.

In addition, the extraction unit is connected to an extraction valve for extracting purified water, and the residual water drainage passage may be configured to connect the extraction valve and the purified water discharge passage.

In addition, the extraction valve may be configured to operate in which communication between the extraction unit and the residual water drainage passage is performed when the residual water is drained.

In addition, the residual water drainage unit may further include a residual water drain valve installed in the residual water drainage passage and opened during a residual water drainage operation.

In this case, the residual water drain valve may be opened for a preset operation time for discharging the residual water, and may be configured to be opened after a preset waiting time elapses after the extraction of the extraction unit is finished.

In addition, the residual water drainage unit may further include a non-return valve installed in the residual water drainage channel to prevent water from flowing backward from the purified water discharge channel toward the extraction unit.

In addition, the drain passage includes a concentrated water passage through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged, and a flush passage for flushing the reverse osmosis membrane filter, and the reverse osmosis membrane filter is flushed in the flush passage. At this time, a flushing valve that opens the flushing flow path may be installed. In this case, the flushing valve may be configured to be opened when the residual water is drained.

According to an embodiment of the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to obtain an effect of stably discharging residual water from the extraction unit by using the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter is used, it is possible to discharge residual water from the extraction unit naturally without using a separate power through a flow path change through a valve at the end of extraction. You can get it.

1 is a water pipe diagram of a water purifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a water piping diagram showing a water flow when purified water is extracted from the water purifier shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a water piping diagram illustrating a water flow when the residual water of an extraction unit is drained in the water purifier shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 4 is a water pipe diagram of a water purifier according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a water piping diagram showing the flow of water when purified water is extracted from the water purifier shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a water piping diagram illustrating a water flow when the residual water of the extraction unit is drained in the water purifier shown in FIG. 4.

[Explanation of code]

100... water purifier, 110... filter part, 111... pretreatment filter,

113... reverse osmosis membrane filter, 115... post-treatment filter, 120... pressurized part

130... cold water generation unit, 140... hot water generation unit, 150... residual water drainage unit

151... residual water drainage passage, 155... residual water drainage valve, 157... non-return valve

160... extraction section, CP1, CP2... connection port, FS1, FS2... flow sensor

L1... 1st flow path, L2... 2nd flow path, L3... 3rd flow path (water discharge flow path)

L4... 4th flow path, L5... 5th flow path, L6... purified water flow path, L7... cold water flow path

L8... hot water flow path, L9... extraction flow path, LD... drain flow path,

LF... Flushing Euro, LL... Concentrated Water Euro, M... Euro Branch

MB... reverse osmosis membrane, S1... filtering side, S2... non-filtering side, V1... feed valve

V2... water supply valve, V3... cold water supply valve, V4... hot water supply valve

V5... extraction valve, VC1, VC2... non-return valve, VF... flush valve

VL... resistance valve, VR... resistance valve, VR1... regulator

VR2... reducing valve, VT... shut-off valve

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. In addition, embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those with average knowledge in the art. In the drawings, the shapes and sizes of elements may be exaggerated for clearer explanation.

In addition, in the present specification, expressions in the singular include a plurality of expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and the same reference numerals throughout the specification refer to the same or corresponding elements.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a water piping diagram of a water purifier 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a water piping diagram showing a water flow when purified water is extracted from the water purifier 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a water piping diagram showing the flow of water when the water purifier 100 shown in FIG. 1 drains the residual water of the extraction unit 160. In addition, FIG. 4 is a water piping diagram of the water purifier 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a water piping diagram showing the water flow when purified water is extracted from the water purifier 100 shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 Is a water piping diagram showing the flow of water when the water purifier 100 shown in FIG. 4 drains the residual water of the extraction unit 160.

1 to 6, the water purifier 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured to include a filter unit 110, an extraction unit 160, and a residual water drainage unit 150, and additional It may be configured to include a furnace pressurization unit 120, a cold water generation unit 130, a hot water generation unit 140, and a plurality of flow paths and valves connected thereto.

First, the filter unit 110 includes at least one filter including a reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 to generate purified water by filtering the introduced water.

As an example, the filter unit 110 may be composed of three filters including a pre-treatment filter 111, a reverse osmosis membrane filter 113, and a post-treatment filter 115, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. have.

In this case, the pre-treatment filter 111 may be composed of a composite filter of a sediment filter and a pre-carbon filter as an example, and the post-treatment filter 115 may be composed of a post carbon filter as an example. However, the types and number of filters constituting the pre-processing filter 111 and the post-processing filter 115 are not limited thereto.

In addition, the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 filters water introduced through the pretreatment filter 111 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. The reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 may be provided with a reverse osmosis membrane MB composed of a semipermeable membrane to divide the internal space of the reverse osmosis filter 113 into a filtering side S1 and a non-filtering side S2.

The reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 applies a pressure of more than osmotic pressure to the reverse osmosis membrane MB, so that water moves from the high-concentration non-filtration side (S2) to the low-concentration filtration side (S1). It is a filter that performs water purification by using (phenomena).

That is, the water flowing into the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is filtered while moving from the non-filtering side (S2) to the filtering side (S1), and the filtered water passing through the reverse osmosis membrane (MB) is accommodated in the filtering side (S1). , Water (concentrated water) having a high concentration of foreign substances is accommodated on the non-filtration side (S2) because it cannot pass through the reverse osmosis membrane (MB). In addition, a water discharge passage (third passage) L3 through which the purified water filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged is connected to the filtering side S1 of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113, and the non-filtration side of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 A drain flow path LD through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged is connected to S2. The drain flow path LD will be described later.

In addition, the number and type of filters provided in the filter unit 110 are not limited to the above description. As an example, it is also possible to add an antibacterial filter or various functional filters.

Meanwhile, in the interior of the water purifier 100 including the filter unit 110, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, a plurality of flow paths are formed to filter water and install various components.

For example, raw water is supplied to the pretreatment filter 111 through the first flow path L1, and the purified water filtered by the pretreatment filter 111 passes through the pressurization unit 120 through the second flow path L2, and a reverse osmosis membrane filter Supplied to (113). In this case, a regulator VR1 may be installed in the first flow path L1 to adjust the raw water to a predetermined amount of pressure.

In addition, there may be provided a feed valve (V1) that is turned on and off for supplying or blocking the supply of water to the filter unit 110, such a feed valve (V1) may be provided in the front end of the pressurizing unit 120, for example For example, it may be installed in the second flow path L2.

Meanwhile, since sufficient filtration may not be performed in the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 only by the pressure of the raw water, a pressurization unit 120 may be provided to pressurize the water supplied to the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113. That is, the pressurizing unit 120 is driven when generating purified water to supply water having a pressure sufficient to implement the reverse osmosis phenomenon to the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113.

As an example, the pressing unit 120 may be installed in the second flow path L2 between the rear end of the pretreatment filter 111 and the front end of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113, but if the flow path is at the front end of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113, the The location is not limited. In addition, the pressing unit 120 may be configured as a pump, for example.

In addition, a shutoff valve VT may be installed in a flow path at the front end of the pressing unit 120. The shut-off valve VT may be a normal open valve that is open when not in operation and closes when in operation. For example, the shut-off valve VT may be open when electricity is not applied and may be closed when electricity is applied. Accordingly, in a normal time when the operation is not operated because electricity is not applied, the shutoff valve VT may be open. In the event of an accident such as a power failure or a failure of the pressurization unit 120, electricity is applied from an emergency power source (not shown) to the shut-off valve VT, and the shut-off valve VT operates, thereby the shut-off valve VT. Can be closed. Accordingly, in case of an accident or failure, water from the water supply source may be blocked from flowing into the filter unit 110 by the shutoff valve VT.

In addition, the purified water filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is supplied to the post-treatment filter 115 through the purified water discharge passage (third passage) L3 and the fourth passage L4. At this time, in the flow path between the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 and the post-treatment filter 115, a pressure reducing valve VR2 reducing the pressure of flowing water to a certain level, and a non-return valve preventing water from flowing back to the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 (VC1) can be installed.

In addition, concentrated water (living water) that has not passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged through the drain passage LD.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the drain passage LD may include a concentrated water passage LL through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged. At this time, in the concentrated water flow path LL, the amount or ratio of the concentrated water discharged through the concentrated water flow path LL (the ratio of the water discharged as purified water and the water discharged as concentrated water among the water introduced through the reverse osmosis membrane filter) is limited. For this, a resistance valve VL may be installed. That is, filtration pressure is formed in the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 by the small flow path diameter of the resistance valve VL, through which some water is filtered through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 through the membrane MB, and the remaining water is Drainage can be made as concentrated water.

In contrast, the drain passage LD is added to the concentrated water passage LL through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 It may further include a flushing passage LF mainly used for flushing (washing) the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 by supplying water in a direction opposite to that during water purification.

The flushing flow path LF is formed as a flow path branching between the rear end of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 and the front end of the resistance valve VL, and the flushing flow path LF opens and closes the flushing flow path LF. A valve VF may be installed. In addition, a resistance valve VR may be installed in the flushing passage LF to limit the amount or ratio of water discharged through the flushing passage LF.

The flushing valve VF may be configured to be opened by a control unit (not shown) when the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is flushed to facilitate drainage through the drain passage LD. When the flushing valve VF is opened in this way (see Fig. 6), both the concentrated water flow path LL and the flushing flow path LF are open, so that the total amount of drainage through the drain flow path LD is increased. I can.

In addition, the flushing valve VF may be opened to prevent an excessive load from being applied to the pressing unit 120. For example, as will be described later, when the hot water generating unit 140 is configured as an instantaneous heating device and hot water is heated while flowing through the inner flow path of the instantaneous heating device to extract hot water, the flow rate is higher than in the case of purified water extraction or cold water extraction. Decreases. In view of this point, when hot water is extracted, the flushing valve VF may be opened to prevent overload of the pressurizing unit 120. In addition, as will be described later, even when the residual water of the extraction unit 160 is drained, the flushing valve VF may be opened to facilitate drainage of the residual water (see FIG. 6 ).

In addition, a non-return valve VC2 may be installed at an end of the drain passage LD to prevent water from flowing backward to the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113.

In addition, the purified water filtered by the post-treatment filter 115 is supplied to the flow path branch M through the fifth flow path L5, and then the purified water flow path L6 and the cold water flow path L7 branched from the flow path branch M. ), supplied to the hot water flow path (L8). In this case, the flow sensor FS1 may be installed in the fifth flow path L5 in order to detect the flow rate of water supplied to the flow path branch unit M.

The purified water supply valve V2 is installed in the purified water passage L6, and when the purified water at room temperature is extracted, the purified water supply valve V2 is opened. In addition, a cold water supply valve V3 and a cold water generation unit 130 are installed in the cold water passage L7, and when cold water is extracted, the cold water supply valve V3 is opened. In addition, a hot water supply valve V4 and a hot water generation unit 140 are installed in the hot water passage L8, and when hot water is extracted, the hot water supply valve V4 is opened.

In addition, normal temperature purified water supplied from the purified water passage (L6), cold water supplied from the cold water passage (L7), and hot water supplied from the hot water passage (L8) flow into the extraction passage (L9) by opening the extraction valve (V5). After being provided, it is provided to the user through the extraction unit 160. The extraction unit 160 is for providing the user with purified water filtered by the filter unit 110 and may be formed of a coke or a faucet. In addition, the purified water passage L6, the cold water passage L7, and the hot water passage L8 may be connected to the extraction valve V5 through the connection port CP2.

On the other hand, the cold water generation unit 130 provided in the cold water flow path L7 is an ice storage heat that generates cold water by exchanging heat with the ice storage water inside the ice storage tank while the purified water filtered by the filter unit 110 passes through the cold water flow pipe inside the ice storage tank. It can be configured as an anticorrosive cold water generating device. However, the cold water generation unit 130 is not limited thereto, and may be configured as a low-water type cold water generation device that directly cools water accommodated in the cold water tank by a cooling device.

In addition, the hot water generating unit 140 provided in the hot water flow path L8 may be configured as an instantaneous heating device that heats purified water passing through the flow path and supplies hot water to the user. In this case, a flow sensor FS2 for measuring the amount of water flowing into the hot water generating unit 140 may be provided in the hot water passage L8 in order to control the heating capacity of the hot water generating unit 140. However, the hot water generating unit 140 provided in the hot water passage L8 is not limited to the above-described instantaneous heating device, and a storage type hot water tank having a heating device may be used.

Finally, the residual water removal unit 150 uses the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 after the extraction through the extraction unit 160 is terminated so that the residual water remaining in the extraction unit 160 is drained through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113. do.

The residual water drainage unit 150 may include a residual water drainage channel 151 connecting the extraction unit 160 and the purified water discharge channel (third channel) L3, and thus the residual water of the extraction unit 160 May flow into the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 through the residual water drainage passage 151 and the purified water discharge passage L3 due to the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 and then drain through the drain passage LD.

Specifically, in the process of extraction through the extraction unit 160, reverse osmosis occurs in the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 by the pressure of the pressurization unit 120, so that the reverse osmosis membrane (MB) is formed on the non-filtration side (S2). The water moves to the filtering side (S1) through the process, and the foreign material remains on the non-filter side (S2) to become concentrated water, so the concentration of the foreign material (solute) on the non-filter side (S2) is higher than that of the filtering side (S1). .

However, when the extraction through the extraction unit 160 is terminated, the pressure unit 120 is stopped, so that the pressure artificially applied to the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is removed, resulting in an osmosis phenomenon in the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113. . In other words, since the concentration of foreign matter (solute) on the non-filtering side (S2) is higher than that of the filtering side (S1), water is allowed to move from the filtering side (S1) having a low concentration to the non-filtering side (S2) having a high concentration. As a result, suction force is generated from the direction of the filtering side (S1) to the direction of the non-filtering side (S2). In this way, the suction force generated in the osmosis phenomenon has a sufficient size to discharge the residual water remaining in the extraction unit 160 through the drain passage LD.

In addition, since the residual water drainage channel 151 is connected to the purified water discharge channel (third channel) L3 through the connection port CP1, and the residual water drainage channel 151 is connected to the extraction unit 160, extraction The residual water of the unit 160 is introduced into the filtering side (S1) of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 through the residual water drainage channel 151 and the purified water discharge channel (L3), and the water on the filtering side (S1) is caused by osmosis. After moving to the non-filtering side S2, it may be discharged into the drain flow path LD.

In addition, as described above, the extraction unit 160 is provided with an extraction valve V5 for extracting purified water, and the residual drainage passage 151 may be connected to the extraction unit 160 through the extraction valve V5. . Accordingly, the extraction valve V5 may be operated by a control unit (not shown) to allow communication between the extraction unit 160 and the residual water drainage passage 151 when the residual water is drained.

On the other hand, Figures 1 to 6 shows a case where the extraction valve (V5) is composed of one valve, but the extraction valve (V5) provided in the water purifier 100 according to the present invention is provided with a function of extracting purified water. In order to perform a communication function between the extraction unit 160 and the residual water drainage passage 151, a plurality of unit valves are configured in combination. For example, the extraction valve V5 may include a flow path switching valve and a normal open valve for extracting purified water, or a combination of an on-off valve and a flow path switching valve. In this way, the extraction valve V5 provided in the water purifier 100 according to the present invention performs an extraction function through the above-described extraction unit 160 and a communication function between the extraction unit 160 and the residual water drainage passage 151. If possible, the number of unit valves constituting it or its specific structure is not limited and various changes are possible.

In addition, the residual water drainage unit 160 may additionally include a residual water drain valve 155 installed in the residual water drainage passage 151 and opened during the residual water drainage operation. Since the residual water drain valve 155 is opened so that the residual water can be moved through the residual water drain passage 151, the osmosis phenomenon in the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 can be controlled by controlling the opening and closing of the residual water drain valve 155. .

Specifically, after the extraction of the extraction unit 160 is finished, the extraction unit 160 and the residual water drainage passage 151 are communicated through the extraction valve V5, and when the residual water drainage valve 155 is opened, the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 The residual water of the extraction unit 160 may be drained through the drain passage LD due to the osmosis phenomenon. At this time, if the residual water drain valve 155 is kept open after the discharge of residual water from the extraction unit 160 is terminated, external contaminants are transferred through the extraction unit 160 to the residual water drainage passage 151 and the reverse osmosis membrane. It may flow into the filter 113. Accordingly, the residual water drain valve 155 may be controlled by the control unit to be opened only for a preset operation time for discharging residual water, and in this case, the operation time is sufficient to allow the extraction unit 160 to discharge residual water. Can be set by time.

On the other hand, after the extraction in the extraction unit 160 is finished, the extraction unit 160 may be used immediately or repeatedly within a predetermined time. In this way, in the case of repeated use or frequent use of the extraction unit 160, the possibility of contamination is low because the residual water remains in the extraction unit 160 is short, so that the residual water drainage through the residual water drainage unit 150 is extracted. After the extraction of the unit 160 is finished, a predetermined time may elapse before proceeding. To this end, the control unit (not shown) may control the opening and closing of the residual water drain valve 155 so that the residual water drain valve 155 is opened after a preset waiting time elapses after the extraction of the extraction unit 160 is finished. .

In addition, the residual water drainage unit 160 is installed in the residual water drainage channel 151 and further includes a non-return valve 157 that prevents water from flowing backward from the purified water discharge channel L3 to the extraction unit 160 can do. Such a non-return valve 157 may prevent the purified water discharged from the reverse osmosis membrane filter 133 from moving to the extraction unit 160 through the residual water drainage passage 151 when the purified water is extracted.

On the other hand, as described above, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the drain passage LD is a reverse osmosis membrane filter in addition to the concentrated water passage LL through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is discharged. In order to flush the 113, it may include a flushing flow path LF in which a flushing valve VF is installed. In this case, in order to facilitate the discharge of residual water from the extraction unit 160, by opening the flushing valve VF when the residual water is drained, residual water is passed through the concentrated water flow path LL and the flushing flow path LF. Can be discharged.

Next, the flow of water in each operating state of the water purifier 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6.

First, the flow of water during extraction of purified water, cold water, and hot water will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5.

When the normal temperature purified water extraction signal is input, the control unit (not shown) opens the feed valve V1, the purified water supply valve V2, and the extraction valve V5, and the cold water supply valve V3 and the hot water supply valve V4 And the residual water drain valve 155 is blocked, and the pressurizing unit 120 is driven. In addition, the shutoff valve VT maintains an open state. Accordingly, the raw water introduced into the first flow path L1 flows into the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 in a pressurized state through the pretreatment filter 111 and the pressurization unit 120. The purified water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is further filtered after flowing into the post-treatment filter 115 through the third flow path L3 and the fourth flow path L4, and thereafter, the purified water flow path L6 and the extraction valve V5 ) Through the extraction unit 160 may be provided to the user.

And, when the cold water extraction signal is input, the control unit (not shown) opens the feed valve V1, the cold water supply valve V3, and the extraction valve V5, and the purified water supply valve V2, the hot water supply valve V4 ) And the residual water drain valve 155 is blocked, and the pressurizing unit 120 is driven. In addition, the shutoff valve VT maintains an open state. Accordingly, the raw water introduced into the first flow path L1 flows into the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 in a pressurized state through the pretreatment filter 111 and the pressurization unit 120. The purified water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is further filtered after flowing into the post-treatment filter 115 through the third flow path L3 and the fourth flow path L4, and thereafter, a cold water generation unit through the cold water flow path L7. After being introduced into the 130 and cooled, it may be provided to the user through the extraction unit 160 through the extraction valve V5.

In addition, when the hot water extraction signal is input, the control unit (not shown) opens the feed valve V1, the hot water supply valve V4, and the extraction valve V5, and the purified water supply valve V2, the cold water supply valve V3 ) And the residual water drain valve 155 is blocked, and the pressurizing unit 120 is driven. And, the shutoff valve VT maintains an open state. Accordingly, the raw water introduced into the first flow path L1 flows into the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 in a pressurized state through the pretreatment filter 111 and the pressurization unit 120. The purified water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is further filtered after flowing into the post-treatment filter 115 through the third flow path L3 and the fourth flow path L4, and thereafter, the hot water generation unit through the hot water flow path L8. After being introduced into the 140 and heated, it may be provided to the user through the extraction unit 160 through the extraction valve V5.

In addition, the concentrated water that does not pass through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 when extracting purified water, cold water, and hot water at room temperature is drained through the concentrated water passage LL of the drain passage LD shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. . In this case, in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 5 including the flushing passage LF, the flushing valve VF may be closed so that the concentrated water is drained only through the concentrated water passage LL, but the flushing It is also possible to allow the valve VF to be opened so that the concentrated water that has not passed through the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is drained through the concentrated water flow path LL and the flushing flow path LF of the drain flow path LD.

In addition, when the extraction of purified water, cold water, and hot water at room temperature is finished, the control unit shuts off valves such as the feed valve V1 to cut off the supply of raw water and stop the driving of the pressurizing unit 120.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 6, the flow of water in the case of draining the residual water of the extraction unit 160 will be described.

The control unit (not shown) automatically generates residual water when a preset waiting time has elapsed after extraction of the extraction unit 160 has ended, or by inputting a residual water drainage signal from the user. It may be configured to control the opening and closing of the valves so that the drainage is made.

In this case, the control unit maintains the closed state of the feed valve (V1), the purified water supply valve (V2), the cold water supply valve (V3), and the hot water supply valve (V4), and the pressurization unit 120 is maintained in a stopped state. , Switch the flow path so that the extraction valve V5 communicates the extraction unit 160 and the residual water discharge flow path 151, and the residual water drain valve 155 is opened.

Since the flow path between the extraction unit 160 and the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 is open, the residual water remaining in the extraction unit 160 due to the suction force to the non-filtration side (S2) due to the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 Is introduced into the filtering side (S1) of the reverse osmosis membrane filter 113 through the residual water discharge passage 151 and the purified water discharge passage (L3), and then the water from the filtering side (S1) passes through the reverse osmosis membrane (MB) to the non-filter side ( It flows to S2) and may be discharged through the drain flow path LD.

In this case, in the case of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, since the drain passage LD includes only the concentrated water passage LL, the water of the non-filtered side S2 is discharged through the concentrated water passage LL.

On the other hand, in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6 including the flushing flow path LF, the flushing valve VF is opened so that the water flowing into the non-filtering side S2 flows into the concentrated water flow path LL of the drain flow path LD. ) (Arrow ② in Fig. 6) and the flushing flow path LF (arrow ① in Fig. 6) to be drained. However, in the embodiment of Figure 6, it is also possible to block the flushing valve (VF), in this case, the water flowing into the non-filtered side (S2) is concentrated water flow path (LL) ( It can be discharged only through the arrow ②) in FIG. 4.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention described in the claims. It will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field.

Claims

A filter unit having a reverse osmosis membrane filter for filtering incoming water;

An extraction unit that provides the purified water filtered by the filter unit to a user; And

A residual water drainage portion configured to drain residual water remaining in the extraction portion through the reverse osmosis membrane filter by using the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter after the extraction through the extraction portion is terminated;

Water purifier comprising a.
The method of claim 1,

A water discharge passage through which purified water filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged and a drain passage through which concentrated water not filtered from the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged are connected to a rear end of the reverse osmosis membrane filter,

The residual water drainage portion includes a residual water drainage passage connecting the extraction portion and the purified water discharge passage,

A water purifier configured to be drained through the drain passage after the residual water of the extraction unit is introduced into the reverse osmosis membrane filter through the residual water drainage passage and the purified water discharge passage due to the osmosis phenomenon of the reverse osmosis membrane filter.
The method of claim 2,

The extraction unit is connected to an extraction valve for extracting purified water,

The residual water drainage passage is a water purifier connecting the extraction valve and the purified water discharge passage.
The method of claim 3,

The extraction valve is a water purifier configured to operate in communication between the extraction unit and the residual water drainage passage when the residual water is drained.
The method of claim 2,

The residual water drainage unit further includes a residual water drain valve installed in the residual water drainage passage and opened during a residual water drainage operation.
The method of claim 5,

The residual water drain valve is configured to be opened for a preset operation time for discharging residual water.
The method of claim 6,

The residual water drain valve is configured to be opened after a predetermined waiting time elapses after the extraction of the extraction unit is finished.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7,

The residual water drainage unit is installed in the residual water drainage passage, the water purifier further comprising a reverse flow prevention valve for preventing the reverse flow of water from the purified water discharge passage to the direction of the extraction unit.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7,

The drain passage includes a concentrated water passage through which concentrated water not filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane filter is discharged, and a flush passage for flushing the reverse osmosis membrane filter,

A water purifier in which a flushing valve is installed in the flushing channel to open the flushing channel when the reverse osmosis membrane filter is flushed.
The method of claim 9,

The flushing valve is configured to be opened when the residual water is drained.